1995 Portuguese Grand Prix
24 September |officialname = XXIV Grande Prémio de Portugal |circuit = Autódromo do Estoril |location = Estoril, Portugal |circuittype = Permanent racing facility |lapdistance = 4.360 |laps = 71 |distance = 309.560 |pole = David Coulthard |polenation = GBR |poleteam = |poletime = 1:20.537 |fastestlap = 1:23.220 |fastestlapdriver = David Coulthard |fastestlapnation = GBR |fastestlapteam = |fastestlapnumber = 2 |winner = David Coulthard |winnernation = GBR |winnerteam = |second = Michael Schumacher |secondnation = GER |secondteam = |third = Damon Hill |thirdnation = GBR |thirdteam = }} The 1995 Portuguese Grand Prix, otherwise known as the XXIV Grande Prémio de Portugal, was the thirteenth round of the FIA Formula One World Championship, staged at the Autódromo do Estoril in Estoril, Portugal, on the 24 September 1995.'Portuguese GP, 1995', grandprix.com, (Inside F1 Inc., 2014), https://www.grandprix.com/gpe/rr577.html, (Accessed 11/08/2019) The race would see David Coulthard secure an impressive maiden victory, as Damon Hill effectively gave up on the Championship by allowing Michael Schumacher to pass without too much resistance. The race was heralded by a couple of new-spec cars, with both and bringing new equipment. However, while the updated Williams FW17B was given a stamp of approval, McLaren were found to be completely confused by the rushed MP4/10C, resulting in the team rebuilding four different specifications of car during Saturday night. Into the weekend itself and Coulthard demonstrated the raw speed of the new FW17B perfectly, sweeping to pole position ahead of teammate Hill. Schumacher was best of the rest in third ahead of Gerhard Berger, while the two McLarens of Mark Blundell and Mika Häkkinen found themselves down in twelfth and thirteenth respectively. Williams ultimately decided to use the established FW17 for the race itself, deciding that reliability would be a better weapon than raw speed. Regardless, it would be formation flying from the Williams' at the start, although the race would barely get underway before it was red flagged. The cause was Ukyo Katayama, who had a huge accident after darting across the nose of Luca Badoer, resulting in the getting flipped upside down and skating across the circuit. The race was instantly red flagged after the upside-down Japanese racer slammed into Andrea Montermini, and would be pulled from his car unconscious. Fortunately, Katayama would wake-up en-route to hospital, and was later diagnosed with a strained neck and bruising. The wrecked Tyrrell was swept away and the field reset to qualifying order, with a full restart from the starting grid. This time Coulthard would get a storming start to claim an early lead, while Hill lost out to Schumacher as the pair jousted on the brakes for turn one. Hill's relatively poor start prompted Williams to swap his strategy early on, putting the Englishman on a two stop. He duly backed off to conserve his fuel and tyres, meaning Coulthard and Schumacher, both on three stops, would quickly pull clear of the #5 Williams. Ultimately the ploy would work, with Hill rising to second once the pitstop window was complete, equi-distant between Coulthard in first and Schumacher in third. However, it quickly became clear that Schumacher had far superior pace, and would Coulthard too far ahead for team orders to come into effect, it was down to Hill to defend second. It therefore came as a huge surprise when Hill completely failed to recognise Schumacher's first attack, leaving the inside line at Gancho undefended. The German ace duly dived inside the Brit to claim second, before powering away on much fresher rubber to chase after Coulthard. Further down the field were doing their best to divide and conquer their own drivers, first by ordering Jean Alesi to move aside for Berger, before deliberately delaying Alesi during one of his stops. That would get Berger ahead of the Frenchman, although it also allowed Heinz-Harald Frentzen in the to get past the #27 Ferrari. With that the race was over, with Coulthard able to keep Schumacher at arm's length to claim his maiden victory, collecting fastest lap as well. Schumacher was second ahead of a very quiet Hill, with Berger in fourth ahead of Alesi and Frentzen, the Frenchman having quickly got back ahead of the German before hunting down his teammate in the closing stages. Background There was no change to the top of the Championship standings as a result of the Italian Grand Prix, with Schumacher and Hill still separated by fifteen points, and both holding a suspended one-race ban. Behind, however, there had been some significant changes, with Johnny Herbert having leapt up to third ahead of Jean Alesi and David Coulthard, with nine points covering the trio. Elsewhere, Mika Häkkinen had shot into the top ten behind Heinz-Harald Frentzen, with seventeen drivers on the board. In the Constructors Championship it had been a positive day for , who were the only top three team to score in Italy. Herbert's victory ensured that they established a twenty point lead over at the head of the field, while were now 37 points behind in third. Elsewhere, had been another big winner, moving into fourth ahead of , while slipped to seventh, albeit just seven points off of McLaren in fourth. Entry list The full entry list for the is outlined below: Practice Overview Qualifying Friday Qualifying Saturday Qualifying Qualifying Results The full qualifying results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car to set their best time in that session. *'Bold' indicates a driver's best/qualifying time. Grid Race Report Results The full results for the are outlined below: *T Indicates a driver used their test/spare car. Milestones * made their 550th Grand Prix appearance as a constructor.'13. Portugal 1995', statsf1.com, (Stats F1, 2014), https://www.statsf1.com/en/1995/portugal.aspx, (Accessed 11/08/2019) * Maiden victory for David Coulthard. * 82nd win for as a constructor. ** secured their 70th victory as an engine supplier. Standings With Damon Hill slipping behind Michael Schumacher during the race there was little surprise that the German ace left Portugal with an enhanced lead in the Championship. Indeed, the top two in the Championship were now split by seventeen points with four rounds to go, with Hill needing to win the majority of the races to challenge. Behind, the fight for third had got more intense, with David Coulthard having moved ahead of Johnny Herbert and Jean Alesi, with just five points between the trio. broke through the 100 point barrier in Portugal, although their lead atop the Constructors Championship had been reduced. Indeed, had left Estoril twelve points behind their compatriots, and with 38 points off the lead in third, seemed to be Benetton's only challengers to the throne. Ferrari themselves, meanwhile, were set to finish no lower than third, with almost three times the number of points of in fourth. Only point scoring drivers and constructors are shown. References Images and Videos: * References: Category:Grand Prix articles Category:1995 Grands Prix Category:Portuguese Grand Prix